Samsung Galaxy S5 Hardware Costs $50 More Than iPhone 5S

The cost to build Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphone has been steadily increasing with each generation according to a report from IHS Technology. After examining the hardware found within the device, IHS came to the conclusion that the materials cost $256, up from the $236 that the S4 cost and the $205 that the S3 cost.

One of the more interesting comparisons however was the difference in build price between the Galaxy S5 and the Apple iPhone 5S. Based upon IHS’s analysis, the 32GB iPhone 5S costs just $206 to build.

While this may mean a lot if you are comparing two Android devices or even better, two Samsung devices, putting up the iPhone 5S against the Galaxy S5 is like comparing apples to oranges.

There is no doubt that Apple charges a premium for its flagship smartphones but there are also cost differences present on the software side of a smartphone. All of the hardware may be “cheaper” with the 5S, but if a larger analysis was completed, it is quite possible that licensing, development costs, etc, would push the 5S’s price above that of the Galaxy S5.

As many of the reviews have noted, the S5 is very similar to its predecessors and statements from IHS seem to back that up.

There are no revolutions or giant steps forward in this design. There’s a lot of similarity and commonality between the S5 and other recent Samsung smartphones… However, there are many small changes throughout the design, – Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, IHS

The two most expensive parts of the S5–this is the case with most smartphones nowadays–are the screen at $63 and the core processor at $41.

Certain components of the device can be compared directly to the iPhone 5S, like the fingerprint sensor that both now include. On the S5, that feature cost just $4 but on the S5, the cost was $15.

Summary: Analysis from IHS Technology. Report shows that the 32GB Galaxy S5 costs $256 to build, compared to the iPhone 5S at $206. IHS says that the S5’s design is very similar to previous versions of the smartphones.